Path 2

Path 2

The Hold Steady Cover the Mountain Goats

May 27, 2009

As indie-rock love affairs go, the one between Craig Finn and John Darnielle is one of the best: Finn’s “Girls Like Status” memorably namechecked the Mountain Goats’ “This Year,” and Darnielle has been known to sub in the Hold Steady’s name on “Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton,” to pretty awesome effect. Neither act had ever actually covered the other though–until last week, anyway, when Finn went ahead and consummated the thing, covering “Southwood Plantation Road,” a leftfield choice off Tallahassee, live in Leeds. The band apparently did it during an impromtu acoustic gig. The Hold Steady’s version is a bit shaky (Finn’s voice can’t quite go everywhere Darnielle’s can), but it’s got a tremendous amount of feeling to it. Maybe, uh, too much at the end, but when has Finn ever bothered to hold back?